| 30 March 2011
For the first 83 minutes of the Portland Timbers 2-0 victory over Chivas USA last night at Merlo Field, it appeared as if the Timbers were going to go a second straight game without scoring a goal. The rain was pouring down, multiple key players were missing, and the team was struggling to capitalize on a Chivas USA squad that was a man down because of a red card received late in the first half.
And then, suddenly, all those worries were stripped away.
In the 84th minute, team captain Jack Jewsbury attempted a strike that found its way into the corner of the net and then defender Eric Brunner followed that up with a goal of his own off of a corner kick a mere two minutes later. It was oddly the only corner kick attempted on the night for either team.
Those two quick goals sealed the victory for the Timbers, but it was the outstanding defensive performance that first put the team in a prime position to win. Credit is especially due to goalie Jake Gleeson who, in making his first ever professional start, saved the day not once, but twice, and was instrumental in the Timbers walking off the pitch with the upper hand.
Although this U.S Open Cup qualifier match had no affect on the MLS standings, its importance should not be underestimated. As the Timbers are a recently promoted MLS team, they’ve undoubtedly been anxious to pick up their first win. Now that they’ve done so, the players can ease their minds, knowing that they do, in fact, belong.
Brunner expressed that it feels nice to get the first win over with: “It’s good we got that monkey off our back, it’s tough going out trying to get a win, [but] now we’ve got it underneath our belt.“
Coach John Spencer added, “We did lots of good things tonight and at the end of the day I think the best team came out with the win. Tonight we didn’t make the individual errors; we kept ourselves in with a chance to win the game, worked hard off the ball.”
Because this game had no effect on the standings, the coaches made a couple changes to the starting lineup. In one case, this was possibly a tryout for a starting spot, but in the other few cases, it was mostly due to filling in for guys who either have injuries or needed rest.
The first switch was replacing defender Kevin Goldthwaite with defender David Horst, or as some call him, “The Horstache.” Horst was physical and displayed solid decision-making, holding his position of the field down well. It was the first game where the Timbers haven’t allowed a goal, so it looks like the experiment paid off for at least one night.
The second switch was using Jake Gleeson in goal. This was more because of a lack of options than anything else, as both Troy Perkins and Adin Brown are out with injuries, but Gleeson has looked impressive enough in his game and a half in goal that Coach Spencer is going to have to eventually make some tough decisions on which player to move forward with once all three are healthy.
Finally, there were two changes in the midfield, as both Kalif Alhassan and James Marcelin got the start. Alhassan was electric with the ball and demonstrated some fancy footwork to beat defenders. Marcelin used his physicality to win countless balls and was effective in keeping the offense in attack-mode.
Even though both players had impressive outings, the midfield is too crowded for either of them to become a regular starter once everyone is back. For example, Jack Jewsbury didn’t start because Coach Spencer wanted to keep him out this game to rest (although he did come in eventually in the 71st minute) and Sal Zizzo and Darlington Nagbe are both still out with injuries.
The Timbers have another game on the road this Saturday against New England before coming home for two games at JELD-WEN Field on April 14th and April 17th.
Last night, the team demonstrated that they can win at home when they have the full support of the Timbers Army behind them. Now the test will be pulling off the same feat over 3,000 miles away from Portland.
Notes
Midfielder Darlington Nagbe and forward Eddie Johnson have both been cleared for full practice.
In the game against Toronto, Sal Zizzo reinjured the shoulder that he separated earlier in the season and he will not try playing again until it is fully healed.
photo: portlandtimbers.com
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